Israel: Details of the ceasefire proposal which Hamas presented and Israel reject

An Israeli official said, on Monday, that Hamas had offered to release less than 20 kidnapped persons during a 6-week truce as part of a first phase leading towards a comprehensive agreement to end the war on the Gaza Strip, which has entered its seventh month.

The Israeli official added that Hamas’ offer included other conditions that were considered to have changed the truce proposal that the mediators had presented to it, and through it tripled its demands.

Hamas conditioned the implementation of the first phase of the truce proposal on providing international guarantees to end the war in the second phase.

Hamas also demanded that the first phase of the truce proposal include the withdrawal of the army from large areas in the Gaza Strip, allowing the full return of the displaced to the north of the Strip, and complete freedom of movement in the entire Strip.

According to a member of Hamas political bureau, Izzat al Rashq, who stated earlier Monday, that Hamas wouldn’t give up withdrawal in any ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

“The Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip must end completely and the return of the displaced to their areas in the Strip, he said.

He considered that a permanent ceasefire on Gaza is “the only guarantee to protect our people and stop the torrent of blood and massacres”.